Supportability of .NET Framework 1.1 on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
Let’s talk about a concept known as supportability. While somewhat related to Support Lifecycle timeframes or even compatibility, supportability defines what software releases will be supported by Microsoft MCTS Training in combination with other software releases. Broadly speaking, supportability means that Microsoft will support certain products together.

A case in point of supportability is Exchange Server 2010. While Microsoft supports it on some Windows Server OSes, it is not supported on Windows 2000 Server or a client OS such as Windows XP. Another example is Internet Explorer 8. It is supported on various releases of the Windows OS, but is not supported on older releases such as Windows NT.

It is important to note that while a product may appear to successfully install on a particular platform, it may not function properly. It may also not be provided support by Microsoft. In addition, future releases such as service packs, security updates or product hotfixes may render the unsupported product inoperable or reduce its functionality.

In this context, version 1.1 of the .NET Framework is not supported on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.  It was released in mid-2003 and was never intended to be installed or supported with products that were not even in the early planning stages at that time. Customers are encouraged to test their .NET applications with the latest .NET Framework releases and update as appropriate.

In addition, we recently announced that later versions of the .NET Framework (specifically .NET 3.5 SP1 and later) are now considered Components of the Windows OS. Customers can now be certain of support for the .NET Framework provided they are using a supported release of Windows.

For more on the .NET Framework announcement, please visit the official announcement.

Thanks for your continued questions and comments. More information on Microsoft’s support policies can also be found on the Microsoft MCITP Certification Support Lifecycle website.

*This posting is provided “AS- IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights.*